Paulas Blog

Canon PIXMA MX860 Wireless All-In-One office Printer Description:

Wireless Office All-In-One Printer with 2.5″ LCD & Built-in Two-sided copying and printing

• Brand: Canon
• Model: 3301B002
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 8.90″ h x 17.10″ w x 19.40″ l, 33.70 pounds
• CPU: AMD Athlon 1 GHz
• Memory: 128000MB DRAM
• Hard Disk: 1GB
• Processors: 1
• Native resolution: 640×480
• Display size: 669.2913385827

Features

• Fully-Integrated 35-sheet Auto Document Feeder for rapid built-in two-sided document copying and scanning
• Super G3 High-speed fax with memory to store 100 coded speed dials and up to 250 incoming pages when receiving ITU-T No. 1 Chart
• Various security features including password protected PDFs

Customer Reviews:

A nicely designed printer…
Review updated on October 13, 2009 to reflect firmware changes and add information on ink consumption -

The Canon MX-860 is an all-in-one printer designed for home or small business. The printing is fast, sharp and clear. The auto-document feeder scans both sides of the page, a tremendous time saver when you work with two-sided originals. Couple that with duplex-printing and it’s trivial to reproduce two-sided forms and documents. The network connectivity also works well…in the six months I’ve had the printer, it’s operated flawlessly in a mixed Mac/Windows environment on both wireless and wired networks.

Let’s look at the MX-860 on a piece-by-piece basis …

Printing
The Canon MX-860 uses a set of five ink cartridges for printing. Two of the cartridges are black, with the other three being the typical Magenta/Cyan/Yellow set. The printed output is easily sharp enough to be used for business letters; it almost rivals laser printers in quality. To save paper, the printer has built-in duplexing. I haven’t measured it, but single-sided printing speed is quite good…I suspect that the 38 pound weight of the printer is due to some good size motors pulling the paper and moving the printhead around. Printing in duplex mode is quite a bit slower. To avoid smearing, the printer waits for the first-side to dry before printing the second side.

Photographs have good tonal gradation and overall appearance, however they don’t equal those from a high-end printer that’s specifically designed to print photographs. The difference, though, is slight and everybody has liked the prints that I’ve made. The printer has the usual slots on the front to allow you to insert your camera’s memory cards.

Scanning
Whoopee! Duplex scanning! Have you ever tried to scan a stack of two sided pages? And get them merged into one file in the right order? I tried. Once. Then I went out and paid $400 for a dedicated scanner (the Fujitsu ScanSnap S510). With duplex scanning capability on the MX-860, I wouldn’t have needed to do that. You put the papers in the feeder, tell the printer that it’s a two-sided original and push the button.

Faxing
Outgoing faxing works fine. The faxes seem to get there. Originally, the designers of the fax system missed an extremely important feature…you couldn’t specify the number of rings before the fax machine answered. Without that ability, it was almost impossible for the machine to peacefully co-exist with your phone service in a single line household. This problem was fixed by a firmware update and current purchasers can set the number of rings before pick-up. Unfortunately, Canon hasn’t posted the new firmware, so owners of older machines are stuck…be careful if you buy one used. +1 brownie point for recognizing and fixing the problem. -2 for not making it available… :>(

Networking and Setup
I had no problems getting both the wireless and wired network up and running. The setup is simple and straight forward. You’ll need a USB cable to get the wireless network configured. It may be possible to wirelessly configure the wireless network, but there are certain insanities that even I won’t try. You can only use one network - wired or wireless - at once. As I mentioned in the intro, it comes with both Macintosh and Windows software. Getting it to work on my additional networked computers was as simple as inserting the DVD and running the install program.

Ink Consumption
Some printer politely sip ink, but this isn’t one of them. It’s not quite as bad as beer consumption at a frat party, but in the last 2500 pages, I’ve gone through six black and two full sets of color cartridges. That works out to slightly over 10.5 cents per page at Amazon’s current (11/11/09) prices for OEM ink cartridges…fine for normal use, but not great if you’re going to use the printer heavily. Your ink consumption will vary, depending on the mix of photos, graphics and text that you print.

Packaging
You know that ubiquitous orange tape that printer manufactures use to hold everything together? It’s there in spades. I wish I owned that franchise. Otherwise, it looks like the printer should ship well. It’s well isolated with plenty of molded styrofoam.

In summary, this is my fourth Canon printer and probably the twentieth printer that I’ve owned. Outside of the faxing issue, it works great. The duplex scanning and printing are valued additions and real time savers…I would have given it a solid five stars if it wasn’t for the faxing problem. I haven’t used the printer enough to get a sense of long-term reliability; after a couple of thousand sheets of paper, it’s been jam free and solid.

Good AIO with quality output and one unforgivable flaw!
Pros: Acceptable printing speed. Good and fast draft prints and copies. Quiet operation. Text quality is nearly laser sharp. Very good photo quality. Duplex printing and copying. Software that works well, unlike HP.

Cons: Can NOT produce proper COPY of documents with margins less than 0.25 inches. Borderless copy doesn’t help. Can’t print from USB keys. Poorly designed USB slot barely fits average USB key. No document preview on copy and scan on the LCD like HP has.

Summary: Let me start with the bad. I’ve been bugging Canon support for the past several days because I discovered a big flaw in the COPY feature of the printer. MX860 is utterly incapable of producing a copy of the document that has side margins less than 0.25 inches. If you have an 8.5×11 document with small margins that you want to copy, too bad you’ll have to scan to PC first and then reprint, otherwise your margins will be partially cut off. I’ve tried everything Fit To Page which should be designed just for cases like this, borderless copy, size reduction. I can reduce the doc to 25% original size and still the margin adjacent to the initial horizontal edge of the flatbed scanner will be messed up. I do not believe this is a defect of my particular printer and the tech support didn’t say that either. I’ve sent them scanned samples of my copies to show them that no method can be used to make such a copy successfully. It has been very frustrating and just today my wife asked me to make a copy of some document the credit card company sent her and I couldn’t do it on MX860. I am actually comparing MX860 to HP Photosmart C7280. Canon kills the HP in text quality and sharpness as well as better photo quality especially on Standard quality setting. But when it comes to making copies of such documents, HP easily achieves the desired result using Fit To Page. Canon, what were you thinking?

In addition, try placing a 4×6 photo starting in the corner where the arrow on the flatbed marks the starting position. You will end up with a copy of the photo that is missing 0.25inches on one of its sides. You will have to move the photo away from the scanner edge to get a proper copy.

Needless to say I am very annoyed with this AIO at this point. If you are not bothered by such an issue, this is a very good all around AIO with some very useful extra features. Scanning straight to PDF is very good one and so is duplex copying (unless you have a doc with those margins). Very good quality printing.

But for it’s flaw the machine is getting 3 stars from me. If that copy wasn’t an issue it would have been 4 or maybe even 4.5.

BTW tech support said they will forward my comments to the customer feedback program. There is nothing they can do just as I thought. Unless enough people complain it maybe a while before this is fixed, if ever.

Buy now, read review while you wait for delivery truck!
The Canon PIXMA MX860 is the iPhone of All-In-One Printers - it is feature packed, easy to use, and exceeds expectations at every turn.

SUMMARY
Excellent quality, clear menus/instructions/software, Wireless setup, printing, and scanning on OS X is flawless. ADF and Duplexer in a high quality wireless printer from Canon is a steal at $199.

PROS
Build quality, setup instructions, feature set is huge, price tag isn’t

CONS
Weight, could be quieter, internal paper tray doesn’t handle photo media, no wireless faxing

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
The build quality is striking. It is very well packed and instructions are the best I have seen of any consumer electronics product including previous Canon products. There is a “kickstand” for keeping the printer open while inserting the 5 ink tanks and closing it reveals that it has a gentle piston like a luxury car’s hood. Other details include a mechanism on the output try that automatically opens when printing to keep papers from spewing onto the floor. There is definitely some weight to this device and it is much larger than a printer you might get free with a PC purchase. Still I said to myself as I unpacked “was this really just $199?” as I had been looking at more expensive models and was concerned the quality would suffer to provide the MX860’s price point.

PHYSICAL SETUP
Okay, I was flat out scared to insert the print head and break the caps off the five delicate ink tanks to insert them, but I think the instructions were just trying to make a point. In any case, do prepare your setup with lots of light as the print head insertion process is both dark and covered in warning stickers. I had no problems however because the on-screen instructions were clear (both visually and intellectually) and after printing a three step printhead alignment, output quality was definitely promising. I went with the wireless setup so I left the included USB cable (thanks Canon!) and phone lines (don’t intend to fax) in the bag. The built in paper tray (letter size only) hides away neatly under the printer and there is a second input on the back of the unit for other media, plain paper, envelopes, or photo paper (hey a free 4×6 sample pack is included, cool!)

NETWORK SETUP
I installed the OS X drivers on a MacBook and it was very easy. Note that there are different instructions for 10.4 and 10.5 which are the only two versions supported as of Feb 2009 (Vista, XP, and 2000 are also supported, though it is unclear if 64-bit drivers are provided for those OSes). Software is as straight forward as the printed instructions. I did not install Canon’s included photo software as I am expecting iPhoto to handle those tasks.I put the printer in Wireless LAN setup mode. A couple items to note though: Canon does proide for totally wireless setup though Wi-Fi Protected Setup though I went with the more straight forward USB connection to get the printer setup on the wireless network (turns out that included USB cable was helpful). The second item to note is that the software required a reboot which I am not accustom to with OS X software but none the less went along with. It was very cool to see the results of a two minute Wi-Fi quality test that shows the signal strength from base station to printer. (I was in the green zone from about 50 - 60 feet from the base station through two walls.)

PRINTING
Printing is so subjective I’m not going to try to quantify it. I’ll say that it looks very crisp to me - not laser printer crisp, but every bit as sharp as I expected. Have not printed photos yet. The printing is about moderate in speed and as loud as my $300 HP All-in-One from 2004 but lower in tone so not as annoying.

SCANNING
Wireless scanning was what I was very interested in and the MX860 did not disappoint. Can scan from the glass, or the Auto-Document Feeder (ADF) and even do front and back duplex scans from the ADF. The awesome on-screen menu system is intuitive and allows you to choose your target wireless device to scan to. Scanning was faster and quieter than I expected and the resolution is truly excellent for an All-in-One. This is not a dedicated scanner and it won’t scan a legal document, but when you want to quickly front and back scan those rebate forms before you send them in, this will be a good friend to have. I also look forward to batch scanning old printed photos for import into iPhoto.

OTHER FEATURES
I haven’t had time to test printing from a memory card, duplex or ADF copy/print/scanning, faxing or receiving a fax, or Bluetooth (didn’t purchase the optional module for $30). But what I was keenly impressed with is the crisp, intuitive menus. Very easy to navigate and follow. Things are where you think they will be. I wanted to turn down the volume of the keypad confirmation beeps and pleasantly had a whole menu of selection to do so for various volumes including off, as well as different settings for key press or alarms. The attention to detail and user experience really shows.

I hope this review was helpful and you enjoy your new Canon PIXMA MX860.

From the Manufacturer
From the Manufacturer Get ready for the power you’ll need to bring your home office to the next level. This Wireless wonder lets you print from any room in your home and boasts incredible 9600 x 2400 maximum color dpi with 1pl and a 5 individual ink tank system. A built-in, fully integrated 35-sheet Auto Document Feeder means fast copying or scanning of your originals so you can tend to other tasks while the printer is at work. Its built-in Auto Duplex Printing prints 2-sided documents without having to manually flip the pages. Additionally, various security features like password protected PDF’s means you can feel safe about the creation and distribution of your most confidential files.

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MX860 Office All-In-One Printer 9600 x 2400 maximum color dpi with 1pl and a 5 individual ink tank system. Super G3 High-speed Fax along with networkable Ethernet Built-in Automatic Document Feeder (ADF)

5-color ink system consists of four dye-based inks plus a pigment-based black ink, producing exceptional photos and crisp, laser-quality text. Only replace the color ink tank that runs out instead of a multi-colored cartridge wasting unused ink. So, you save money on ink!

A Super G3 High-speed Fax along with networkable Ethernet means every aspect of your business can run as efficiently as possible. Thanks to Dual Color Gamut Processing Technology your copies will maintain the integrity of the original while you produce remarkable scans with 4800 dpi. With computer-less printing capabilities via compatible memory cards, PictBridge and optional Bluetooth your images are easy to view with a 2.5 inch LCD. Its versatile feature set also makes for a top-of-the-line photo lab so all of your printing needs are met in one machine that can virtually fit anywhere whether you’re on a PC or Mac.

Extraordinary Resolution
Realize the power of 9600 x 2400 maximum color dpi firing with 1pl. Benefit? Incredible quality and detail in both your business documents and photos.

High Performance Individual Ink System
This 5-color ink system consists of four dye-based inks plus a pigment-based black ink, producing exceptional photos and crisp, laser-quality text. Only replace the color ink tank that runs out instead of a multi-colored cartridge wasting unused ink. So, you save money on ink!

Fully-Integrated Auto Document Feeder
The built-in Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) makes it easy to copy, scan or fax multiple documents without having to load them one at a time. Its full integration makes it easier to fit into tight spots and once its loaded it lets you do well… Whatever you want.

Built-In Auto Duplex Printing
Print on both sides of the page without the hassle of turning the page manually. This saves you time, money and paper – plus you’re helping the environment!

2.5 inch LCD Screen
Easily view, select and edit your images for simple computer-free printing. No downloading needed, just pick your pic and print!

Dual Color Gamut Technology
Copy with confidence as this built-in technology automatically optimizes your originals so copies stay true to it time after time, copy after copy.

Auto Image Fix
This built-in technology is perfect for your home photo lab as it automatically categorizes your images into one of five types - Portrait, Scenery, Night Scenery, Snapshot with Scenery, and Snapshot with Night Scenery - then applies optimal image correction. For instance, it will automatically brighten faces that are backlit and under-exposed, and correct color cast to help ensure more accurate skin tones to help you produce gorgeous images.

2 Way Paper Feeding
To add to your options this feature lets you load paper from the front cassette or rear tray so whether your office or photo lab is open, you’re ready to print!

Wireless
Be free of the wires that bind you… Print wirelessly from any Wi-Fi enabled computer while you’re in another room.

Built-in Ethernet
This wired LAN interface lets you connect to a home or office network, with connected computers sharing the power of this versatile machine, each being able to display the printer’s status at any moment.

Super G3 Fax
The business fax standard for color and PC facsimiles on plain paper meets the home office workhorse with 100 coded speed dials and up to 250 incoming pages to meet your every communication need.

Memory Cards / PictBridge & Optional Bluetooth
Don’t feel like using a computer? No problem. Just insert a compatible memory card into the built in card slot, select images on the LCD display, and print! Thanks to a PictBridge connection you can also print photos directly from your digital camera, DV camcorder or camera phone. Plus, you can print from the optional BU-30 wireless Bluetooth unit.

M-Edge Prodigy Genuine Leather Kindle Jacket with Hinge Fits 6″ Display, Latest Generation Kindle, Pebbled Fuchsia Description:

The Prodigy Jacket for Latest Generation Amazon Kindle is the ultimate for sophisticated on-the-go eReader users. Whether in the office, at a business meeting, or on the treadmill, the Prodigy Jacket provides refined and stylish protection of your Amazon Kindle in a superior case. The Prodigy Jacket offers full surface protection in a lushly padded case, while the soft grey interior ensures your Kindle will always be cushioned in comfort. The jacket utilizes Kindle-compatible mounting system to hold your device firmly in place. This smart case with classic lines includes interior pockets for storage of notes, business cards, and other essentials. Even while closed, you will find access to all ports, so you never need to remove your reader for charging. The M-Edge Accessories Latest Generation Amazon Kindle Prodigy Jacket is a sleek case that will protect your eReader from scratches and dings. It is the perfect solution for the user with a fashionable, active lifestyle.

• Brand: M-edge
• Dimensions: 6.25″ h x 1.00″ w x 8.25″ l, .55 pounds

Features

• Utilizes Kindle Compatible hinge system to hold device in place with additional mounting security provided by upper and lower elastic straps

Customer Reviews:

A great Kindle 2 case!
Just received this cover today (in purple, but same model), about 3 weeks after ordering from Amazon. Granted, it was ordered before the product was even complete so I was ok with the wait. It is very similar in look and feel to a Dooney and Bourke pocketbook if you are familiar with them. It has a great leather smell, just like a new purse. And the additional room on the binder side (meant for the e-Luminator light - sold separately) gives you a nice place to hold the cover with the Kindle attached.

I love the hinge system, one of the main reasons I bought it. Coming from the K1, the original case Amazon provided was functional but the Kindle always fell out. So when Amazon improved the hinge for the K2, I knew I would only buy a case that had that feature. One word of note, I initially did not “lock” the K2 in the new m-edge case correctly and it almost fell out when I shook it (over a sofa) to test the support. Luckily the two straps on the top right and bottom right held it from falling. Then I discovered I had not closed the hinge enough and made sure the top hinge was securely pushed upwards to “lock it”. Installation instructions are not included with the case (weird) but are available from m-edge online. Amazon won’t let me post the url, but if you go to the buymedge website you can view the installation intructions.

The look and feel of the case is very professional. I am very happy with this purchase and do not expect to be taking the Kindle out of it very often. The only little issue I have is that the tab is a bit too snug when it needs to be slid into the cover to close. A snap might have been a bit easier. Still not enough of a con to drop the rating. But the tab does tuck away easily so as not to interfere while reading, which is nice.

Beautiful Sturdy Cover for Kindle2!
It was very easy to get my Kindle2 buckled into this jacket. The corner elastic bands are definitely a +. It’s super secure in it’s jacket. The buckle fits snugly into the front compartment so it’s also secure when it’s closed. Oh, and the cover easily folds back for reading. The more you fold it back, the softer the leather gets on the spine, so you kinda have to break it in a bit.

I purchased the M-edge book light too so everything fits like it’s supposed to since they were made for each other I was worried about the color, but it’s a very nice fuschia that’s not too bright nor too dull. It’s very stylish and I carry it in my purse all the time without worrying about something cracking the screen. Overall, it’s very sturdy and stylish and perfect for my Kindle2!

For sure, I love it.
I looked at a bunch of cases before I even ordered the Kindle itself. I’m 16 and a bit of klutz so I needed something that would really protect the pricey little e-reader I was purchasing. I also wanted pink, as it is my favorite color.

I went with this case and I’m glad I did. I’ve had my Kindle and case for six months now and I love both immensely. This color is GORGEOUS, it’s like a dark magenta. I was afraid that the two little elastic corner holders were the only things securing my Kindle in, but actually you can secure it tightly with the hook and lock the case has on the inside binding. At first, the case was really stiff as far as bending it back for one-hand reading, but manually forcing it back a few times has fixed that without any harm to the case’s binding. I love the strap that allows you to secure it closed, and I’m often asked if it’s my planner because of the leather, secure case. This is great as far as a stealing concern, since less people are apt to steal someone’s planner than someone’s $300 Kindle.

In conclusion, this Kindle case is attractive and useful. I completely, one hundred percent recommend it.

eneloop Power Pack Kit Product: eneloop Power Pack Kit Discount. List Price: $59.99 Amazon Price: $31.00 Click Here To See Amazon Sale Price Add to cart to see low price@ Availability: In Stock Usually ships in 24 Hours Free Shipping Available

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Includes: (1) MQN06 4-Position Charger (8) AA eneloop Cells (2000 mAh) (2) AAA eneloop Cells (800 mAh) (4) C Size Plastic Spacers (4) D Size Plastic Spacers *Sec MQn06 4 Slot Charger eneloop features: NiMH Rechargeable Batteries Rechargeable 1,000 Times Low Self Discharge No Memory Effect Pre-Charged for Immediate Use Incredible Value: If purchased separately at retail, cost would be more than $60.00! Combining all of your battery needs into a convenient kit - that is the idea behind SANYOs new eneloop Power Pack. The Power Pack comes equipped with a four position charger, eight AA eneloop batteries, two AAA eneloop batteries, four eneloop C spacers and four eneloop D spacers, which makes this the perfect -battery store for your drawer.- * Model Sanyo # 277265 * eneloop Rechargeable Battery Power Pack * Pre-charged Ni-MH rechargeable battery kit * Economical: 1 eneloop = 1,000 alkaline batteries * Worry-Free: eneloop works in any device that uses AA, AAA, C or D batteries * Convenient: eneloop batteries are pre-charged and ready to use when you are Battery Charger Features: * (Worldwide Voltage) * Charges both AA and AAA Ni-MH rechargeable batteries * Foldaway plug; No cords or wall adapters needed * Multi-color LED charge indicator lights eneloop Concept: The eneloop battery proposes a new product concept as a lifestyle promoting the change from single-use batteries to rechargeable. The eneloop battery has been popular since its release in November 2005. . SANYO supports a wide range of user needs by offering a variety of eneloop related products. In addition to AA and AAA size eneloop batteries, SANYO has a line up of C size/D size battery adapters (spacers) which enable users to use a AA size battery as a C size/D size battery, battery chargers compatible with two/four AA or AAA size batteries, rapid chargers and a solar charger.

• Color: White
• Brand: Sanyo
• Model: 277265
• Dimensions: .30″ h x 9.70″ w x 13.30″ l, 1.10 pounds

Features

• Economical: 1 eneloop = 1,000 alkaline batteries
• Worry-Free: eneloop works in any device that uses AA, AAA, C or D batteries
• Convenient: eneloop batteries are pre-charged and ready to use when you are
• Long Storage Life - (1) MQN06 4-Position Charger
• 8 AA & 2 AAA Batteries Plus 4 C & 4 D Size adapters*

A fair price
BATTERIES: Eneloop’s are the leader and you won’t be disappointed about spending $33 on this kit. Hopefully you understand why these are so much better than normal rechargables, but if you haven’t heard these are pre-charged. In fact, these are so good, that Eneloop-type is a more common name, rather than pre-charged.

What this means is that they hold their charge while in storage. Typical rechargables self-discharge rather quickly. My old style are almost always dead when I need them. But these hold most of their charge after a year in storage. This may not matter in devices that eat batteries like I eat Smarties, but in remote controls, clocks, doorbells, flashlights, etc, this long storage life is an absolute must.

WHAT YOU GET: You get 8 AA and sadly, only 2 AAA, a dual channel charger, and some C and D battery adapters. For the idiots that look at pictures and then press the buy button without reading, the C and D batteries are ADAPTERS that use the AA cells. I apologize for the negativity, but rating a fantastic product 1 star because the buyer didn’t read ANY of the description really ticks me off.

ADAPTERS: I agree with the only 2-star rating, billmill was it? that the adapters are not perfect. This is not necessarily the adapters fault, but in my experience, is instead due to the huge variety in battery compartments. For example, my Maglite 3D uses a HUGE spring on the negative terminal. The end of this spring/coil is open, and so large that the AA battery by itself will actually fit inside the spring. I simply slipped a penny inside the coil, to cap that huge hole. Now it works with the adapters. Not the best solution, but it worked well for that one application. In my wireless door-bell, the negative terminals are small, normal sized springs and all is well.

Overall, this is my third type of adapter, and it is my favorite, and the best design/highest quality, plus the batteries are top notch.

CHARGER: I wish the charger would charge a single battery (vs a pair), but of the 7 chargers I have, only one (expensive) has that feature. The charger has a medium charge rate, 300mA for the AA, 150mA for the AAA, which is better for the batteries, but still charges in an acceptable (to me) amount of time. Most of my chargers are timed, this one is better because it monitors and will charge longer/shorter depending on how drained the batteries are. It also is a dual channel charger, so you can charge a really drained pair along side a lightly used pair.

I use multiple wireless flashes/Speedlites for photography, and recharge my batteries after each use. Seldom are the batteries fully discharged, and more than once my favorite timed charger has overcharged the batteries (hot, and stinky!). So having a charger in my arsenal that monitors the amount of charge is great. If you’re a heavy user of rechargeables, having a La Crosse Technology BC-9009 or similar item is a must, but this is a great everyday charger.

OVERALL: Purchased individually, this kit would likely set you back $40-45 dollars. When you think petroleum jelly, you say Vaseline, right? Same with these batteries, when you think pre-charged, you say eneloop. They are just that good, that original. I highly recommend them.

TIP #1: If you don’t need the adapters or the charger, but you DO want the pre-charged, make sure the other brand you are considering has a solid top, rather than a piece of cardboard. The solid tops (generally) are made in Japan, vs China. Eneloops have always been manufactured in Japan for the best quality control.

TIP #2: If you use a lot of rechargables, label them somehow: Set A, set B, or camera, remote, whatever. Try to keep these sets together, used together, charged together. It will possibly prolong the life, and also is very helpful if one of the cells eventually goes bad. Toss the bad one, and then re-purpose the remaining ones to less important jobs (remote controls), as they are likely on their last legs too.

Alas, replacement battery power when you need it.
I bought this Eneloop Power Pack Kit a year ago when all my previously purchased AA NiMH rechargeable batteries began losing their charge while standing by in storage pouches of my GPS, Digital Camera and other devices that used the AA size batteries. Eneloop seemed to be the newest, latest, greatest, and greenest of the rechargeables available today. After a year of use with my GPS, digital Camera in still and video mode and use in several motorized items I can say the power at 2000 MaH rating seems to last as long or longer than my other non-eneloop batteries rated at 2800 MaH. AND the best part? When I need to change out discharged batteries with the standbys from the storage pouch….those are still fully charged and ready to go. No more “topping off” batteries in the chargers before heading out the door on an outing.

The bonus in this kit are the C and D cell spacers. You put the charged AA battery in these spacers and install them into items that use C or D cell batteries and I can assure you that equipment will operate even better than using a C or D alkaline Energizer. Having “rechargeable C/D batteries” really extends the usable value of this kit and the included pair of AAA batteries are perfect for my penlight flashlights. I’m getting another kit to give as a Christmas gift this year.

Great money-saver
Been charging up a storm for a year now, excellent product that really works. I remember years (decades ago actually) those old hokey chargers that never worked. We’ve come a long way!

Western Digital My Book Studio 1 TB USB 2.0/FireWire 400/800, Desktop External Hard Drive WDBAAJ0010HSL-NESN Product: Western Digital My Book Studio 1 TB USB 2.0/FireWire 400/800, Desktop External Hard Drive WDBAAJ0010HSL-NESN-Retail $179.99! Sale Only $139.00! List Price: $179.99 Amazon Price: $139.00 Click Here To See Amazon Sale Price Add to cart to see low price@ Availability: In Stock Usually ships in 24 Hours Free Shipping Available

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See your life safe in one place with WD’s My Book Studio external drive for Mac. It’s the high-performance answer to your storage needs with an innovative e-label to personalize your drive and easily archive media collections; visual, automatic, continuous backup software, and effortless file retrieval. The FireWire 800 interface lets you save and access data at top speed, and password protection and 256-bit hardware-based encryption helps keep your digital life safe. Compatible with Apple TimeMachine.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #736 in Consumer Electronics
• Size: 1 TB
• Brand: Western Digital
• Model: WDBAAJ0010HSL-NESN
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 5.40″ h x 7.00″ w x 8.00″ l, 3.60 pounds
• Hard Disk: 1TB

Features

• Pure performance for Mac with FireWire 800
• Customizable e-label
• Automatic, continuous backup
• Password protection and 256-bit encryption

Smartware on drive is intrusive, not defeatable
Having always liked Western Digital Quality, I purchased a few of these drives - and was horrified to learn that WD has chosen to pre-install a large suite of largely useless ‘SmartWare’ on the drive.
The problem is, it’s not defeatable; it takes up disk space, but is activated in Flash - so no way to get rid of it. It robs you of a drive letter (in windows) or a drive on Mac OS X - again, without a way to get rid of it.
After weeks of complaining by users, WD issues a ‘VCD’ utility that allows you to ‘hide’ it (but not get rid of it); the zinger is that the current drives need updated firmware to run VCD - and WD has NOT published the firmware updater for Studio drives yet, hence making the former utility useless.

All in all a bad experience, a drive marred by mad design, and I for one will no longer purchase WD until they reverse this strategy of spyware on a drive that cannot be overridden. From the feedback everywhere, I assume they will get the message.

UPDATED:
The new ‘info’ WD had Amazon add to the line (visit support to hide VCD) is NOT true; the support site ONLY has updates for the Elite and Essential, but NOT for the Studio line yet. That means, the updater won’t work, as the firmware updater required has still not been released. Check it yourself on their site; very, very poor support and misleading post

Intrusive Software Detracts from a Great Product
Let me echo the thoughts of some of the other reviewers here: The addition of the ’smartware’ in such an intrusive way is not Mac-like and completely unnecessary. I did see the mandatory virtual CD disappear after I installed the smartware software on my Mac, but having to install anything to use an external hard drive is completely inexcusable. Western Digital loses two stars on this ‘feature’ alone.

Once installed, the included smartware software adds an equally unnecessary menu bar icon that does nothing but take up system resources. I was able to remove it from loading by going into user settings under system preferences and removing it from my startup items.

FEATURES & OPERATION
Beyond the major software flaw, this is a good external storage device. There are few first party firewire 800 drives directed at Mac users, so this drive might be attractive for those looking for an easy solution to adding a high-speed time machine backup drive to their system. It is also compatible with Firewire 400 and USB 2.0.

Western Digital gets points for including all the cables you’ll need. A Firewire 800 cable, an 800 to 400 adapter, and a USB 2.0 cable are included in the box.

The drive has an e-ink display (similar to that of the Kindle) that details the remaining drive capacity. The display works even when the device is powered off. It unfortunately will not work until the smartware software is installed.

Transfer speed is decent and certainly faster than USB 2.0, although my first time machine backup of 600+ gigs took over five hours.

The silicon feet at the bottom are springy and make it very unstable when positioned upright. A simple nudge is enough to tip it over. I have mine safely lying flat on my desk.

CONCLUSION
External hard drives are a dime a dozen these days. I don’t blame Western Digital for trying to differentiate themselves in a rather bland marketplace, but the heavy handed software installation is unnecessary.

——–

PROs:
A decent, fast drive in an attractive enclosure
All cables are included
Competitively priced

CONs
Heavy handed software installation that is difficult to remove
Drive prone to toppling over when standing vertically
E-ink display doesn’t work until software is installed

Beware SmartWare
The drive out of the box presents both a normal disk and a goofy 215MB SmartWare “virtual CD” to the OS, so the latter clutters your desktop, finder, and chooser panels. Reports are conflicting wrt whether this space is taken from disk (as I suspect), or if it’s actually flash hidden inside the enclosure on the interface board.

Various articles on the web talk about disabling the SmartWare “virtual CD” and point to a WD web page that advises that one update firmware, then run a Virtual CD Manager utility that can be downloaded from them. Unfortunately, the available firmware update only applies to Essential and Elite (sic) units, not these Studio models, and the Virtual CD Manager utility reports that a firmware update is required to use it — yet WD confirms that none is available.

OSX reports for the disk:

Total Capacity : 1.8 TB (1,999,696,297,984 Bytes)

and for the volume:

Mount Point : /Volumes/My Book Capacity : 1.8 TB (1,999,562,039,296 Bytes)
Format : Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Available : 1.8 TB (1,999,158,603,776 Bytes)
Owners Enabled : No Used : 384.7 MB (403,435,520 Bytes)
Number of Folders : 9 Number of Files:62

There’s no reason to believe that this virtual CD is anything more than an annoyance, but purchasers may wish to find the previous generation disk which doesn’t suffer from it, until/unless WD releases a fix.

SIRIUS Sportster 5 Satellite Radio Receiver with Vehicle Kit Product: SIRIUS Sportster 5 Satellite Radio Receiver with Vehicle Kit Lowest Price! List Price: $169.99 Amazon Price: $129.25 Click Here To See Amazon Sale Price Add to cart to see low price@ Availability: In Stock Usually ships in 24 Hours Free Shipping Available

Compare Prices on SIRIUS Sportster 5 Satellite Radio Receiver with Vehicle Kit

Sportster 5 boasts a vivid multi-color display, simple navigation, advanced features and everything you need to enjoy SIRIUS in your vehicle. Optional universal accessory docking kits and audio systems easily allow this radio to be used in your home, boat, office or in additional vehicles.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #924 in Car Audio or Theater
• Color: Gray
• Brand: Sirius Satellite Radio
• Model: SP5TK1
• Platform: Windows
• Format: CD
• Dimensions: 2.50″ h x 4.50″ w x .60″ l, .23 pounds

Features

• Advanced Sirius satellite radio receiver for use in car and home
• Easy-to-read, six-line (2.7-inch multicolor) display simultaneously shows channel name and number, category, artist name, song title, time
• Game Alert prompts you when favorite sports teams play on Sirius
• Instant replay function to pause, rewind, and replay up to 60 minutes of live radio
• 90-day warranty

My first experience with Satellite. Read on.
OK.

So after all of the hype surrounding satellite radio I decided to “pimp out” my Sebring by adding SIRIUS to it. In order not to look ghetto as well as match my existing deck I decided to pick one of these up and subscribe.

First, I’ll review the device. Then, I’ll review the service. Basically, good news then bad news.

The device itself has a very small form factor which I found very appealing. It comes with a mini dock which essentially powers the device and routes its audio and antenna signal. Know that you’ll be doing quite a bit of wiring if you do this yourself - I would recommend professional installation unless you’re comfortable doing your own car installation stuff. There are 3, possibly 4, wires that you’ll be dealing with:

- The CLA (cigarette lighter adapter)
- The satellite antenna
- The FM antenna extender (only needed if you choose that option)
- The line out (only needed if you choose that option)

Now, if all of these ports were in the back of the dock next to each other this wouldn’t be so bad, but instead they’re on either side. That’s a lot of cables to have hanging out, which is why I recommend professional install if you’re not comfortable. I decided to do it myself and, to get set up with the “basic” quality which is wireless FM (it’s decent, but nothing to write home about) with neat wiring took me about 45 minutes, give or take. That’s including mounting (which I’ll get to in a moment).

SIRIUS recommends using line out/line in if at all possible. Newer decks have this jack, but some older pre-2004 likely do not, or if they do, it’s a proprietary connector that might not work with the Sportster 5. I have the Kenwood MP735U and it works just fine. I found the cable at Circuit City ($24!!!) and it worked like a charm. Took some doing and even more neat wiring, but I did get it to work. I will admit, using the line out spanks the smoke out of the wireless FM or FM modulation options; it’s near CD quality, especially on the Jazz and Classical stations. Again, you can use wireless FM and it will sound “okay”, but line out will give you the absolute best quality possible; you just have to do another cable.

Mounting the unit has a number of options as well - one of which is not available depending on what state you’re in. California, for example, has Draconian laws about vehicles; you can’t have anything stuck to the front windshield. Ironically this is the easiest way to mount the device, as the suction cup works extremely well, and you just attach the device to the metal arm and adjust. If you have this option and don’t mind the device up in the window, I recommend doing this. I have an old Chrysler CD changer indash not being used; a trip to Home Depot for a $.49 angle bracket did the trick - attached it to the dock with a single screw, then slipped the other end into the CD slot and like magic, it’s solid and looks great right underneath the deck. I suppose I could have hard installed it with another screw or two, but I’d rather not.

All said and done the initial hardware investment came to roughly $200. Keep in mind that SIRIUS has cheaper devices that don’t look nearly as good. The downside to the devices is the cigarette lighter adapter. In fact the documentation explicitly forbids a direct power tap. This is so disheartening I can’t even describe it. I have to keep unplugging it when I turn the car off so it doesn’t suck the battery dry. Why can’t you have the option of tapping it into the player’s alternate power line so it turns on with the player? I’m absolutely mystified at this oversight.

Now, the service. Oh, this will be fun.

The quality of the audio? Stellar. Never heard anything like it except on digital TV’s music channels.

The quality of everything else? Horrid. Where do I begin…

- The activation/customer service phone # has extremely long wait times. it took me a total of 5 hours across 10 different phone calls to reach someone who could help me. Do the math.

- Activation/CS reps are clearly stressed over something. I talked to two who were just blatantly rude; one who had no idea what she was talking about, the other a guy who claimed he’d been “…working at SIRIUS for over 3 years and” knew what he was talking about. Funny - since he had no idea that you can’t activate with invoice billing on the website (more on that later).

- SIRIUS and Circuit City have some type of conglomeration going on to force you to call to activate. CC offers a “prepaid subscription card” which is supposed to offset the initial charges (more on that later) to get service. Well that’s all good and everything except the card cannot be used on the website even though the website acknowledges the card and its value. It says “cannot be redeemed”. An Asst. Manager at CC informed me that calling was the only way to redeem the card. Had I known that, I wouldn’t have bought that particular card, but a regular gift card that I could use on the web. Because of the aforementioned long hold times, it was a nightmare to do this simple task. The girl even told me “you should be able to use it on the web” - the other idiot claimed “you’re just doing something wrong”.

- Too much personal information required to sign up. Why do you care what type of car I have? All that should be needed is a credit card (if you choose that payment method) and my address/name. If it’s for purposes of theft recovery, that’s up to me, the buyer, to deal with that. Which I do - in my auto insurance plan.

- Website will authorize your credit card without activating an account for you. That’s money you can’t touch until they feel like releasing it - which could be 2 weeks.

- Inability to just sign up for an account without giving billing information and/or buying a device. Why can’t I just establish the account and then pay for it? Why force me to buy the deck in order to get service established? If I wanted DirecTV and didn’t have it, I call them and activate, and then the hardware comes…not the other way around.

- Website forces you to put in a credit card. You can’t do invoice billing as an option. Why not? Because they know every customer would just do that and then they would be getting free service for that month grace.

- Website does not allow you to select month-to-month billing as an option, and by default it hides the quarterly and 6-month options (which would obviously be the more popular for newbies like myself).

- Telephone IVR can’t hear properly. I tried to activate through the automated system and it just couldn’t understand the letters “D”, “I”, “O”, “N”. That’s it, and I don’t know how many times the chick said “sorry?”

- No trial offered (I’m talking about in-car installation). Why can’t I just buy a unit from a store that offers returns, activate a 14-day trial period with a credit card, and then return and cancel if I hate it? Because then they’d have high turnover due to buyers remorse (which I had at one point due to the above issues)

- $15 activation fee which is not disclosed on the hardware documentation. You don’t find out about this until you go to the website or you talk to an agent. It should be clearly disclosed on the packaging of the device since you’d be forced to pay that fee by activating the device - not at the very last minute when you’re putting in your credit card. On top of that, it’s blatantly mob-ish of them to charge: an activation fee, a monthly fee, fee for the hardware, etc etc etc. They already get money from the subscription - remove the activation fee already or annualize it across the subscription.

So class, in summary: The customer service is screwed up, and in order to activate properly and get the best billing options, you need to call customer service (which did I mention is screwed up?). DO NOT activate over the web if you’re using a gift card. I guarantee you, you will get frustrated.

The quality of the product is top notch. The ability to see who’s playing before you select the station is excellent, and the high resolution of this screen makes navigating stations quick and easy. The audio sounds upper class if you’re using the line out jack, and setup is not that difficult if you know what you’re doing. Once you get past activations you should be smooth. It’s just that phase that causes headaches.

Best Sirius Sportster Yet!
I upgraded to the Sportster 5 from the SIRIUS ST4-TK1 Starmate 4 Plug-and-Play Satellite Radio Receiver with Car Kit. I have to say the new Sportster 5 is the best radio they have released and far superior to the Starmate 4.

Sound quality is comparable between the two units. I choose not to use the FM modulator. I’m in the DC area and there are far too many strong radio stations. Plus, using the auxiliary jack provides all-around better audio quality.

The big improvement for this generation is the color display added to this very thin radio. Very nice looking and customizable for basic text and background colors. Text is clear and the screen provides plenty of information on the 6-line display. Makes a huge difference on legibility. The multi-color display also allows Sirius to display more text information without appearing to clutter the screen as much.

One of the innovations I particularly like is the “game-ticker” feature that has been added in addition to “game alert”. The ticker places the score for your favorite game on the main display of the Sportster in color, regardless of whether you are tuned to the sports channel or not. So, you can monitor your game scores while listening to music.

On the downside it would be nice if you could choose a greater variety of display colors and different background images. Also, the menu and memory buttons are a bit cramped around the tuning knob and need to be spread out. But, this is a distinct improvement over previous models.

Note: Current radios are selling from various vendors for less than $160 w/o a rebate.

Sirius Sportser 5 Radio
I bought this radio for my wife so she could relive the 70’s. She is thrilled with it. Since she is not a techno geek- i.e. the controls need to be pretty straightforward, I wanted something that she would feel comfortable using. Otherwise, it would end up gathering dust on a shelf.
The Sportser 5 has the right balance of features and simplicity. She loves the display showing the Band, Title, and year. She also likes the radio display’s ability to change colors. I set up the preset buttons for her, but she has the Sirius channel guide and has no problems finding the stations she wants.
I was able to hook up the car kit in just a few minutes. It works great for her. I bought a cassete adapter, which I like better than going through the FM Car Radio.
I also bought the boombox for her so she can use the radio around the house. It is working perfectly both in the car and at home.

Logitech Z-2300 THX-Certified 200-Watt 2.1 Speaker System Silver Description:

If you love music, youll love the Logitech Z-2300, a 2.1 speaker system that combines everything you need in a sound system THX -certified performance and quality, beautiful looks, and more than enough power to fill your room with great sound.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #218 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Logitech
• Model: 970118-0403
• Platform: Windows XP
• Format: CD
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 15.00″ h x 21.80″ w x 18.30″ l, 36.50 pounds
• CPU: AMD Athlon 1 GHz
• Memory: 128000MB DRAM
• Hard Disk: 1GB
• Processors: 1
• Native resolution: 640×480
• Display size: 669.2913385827

Features

• Product Type - Speaker
• System Components - 2.1 Speaker System
• Response Bandwidth - 35Hz - 20kHz
• Connectivity Technology - Wired

Customer Reviews:

Great hassle free 2.1 system at a great price
I’ve had these speakers for about six weeks and I think they have a great sound. I have them hooked up to a new Alienware system with a SoundBlaster X-Fi card. I use the card for both gaming and music. The system is located in a 11′ x 11′ home office with the speakers located at each corner of 5′ desk and the subwoofer in front of the desk.

I have switched from a 5.1 system I got with my previous Alienware system. I’m in my 50’s and have seen about every sound gimmick come down the pike. There are a lot of people who love 5.1 and have time to tweak them, I’m just not one of them. I’ve had the 5.1 system for about five years hooked to a SoundBlaster Live card. I’m pretty adept with computers, so I have kept up with the drivers, played with the balance, moved the speakers and done about everything I can to “feel” the game. I usually play Call of Duty or Far Cry type games. I also play RTS games of the C&C stripe.

I must be getting old, because I’m tired of screwing around with sound systems. I’m at a point where I just want to sit down and hear some great sound without going through all of the situational adjustments (FPS game, music, RTS game, SAT TV, etc). If you just want something that has great fidelity and some oomph in the low range, this is your system.

What I like:

1. The sound for music is fantastic. I have eclectic tastes in music and all of it sounds great across the board with excellent fidelity. Some songs you can hear every instrument and note. It’s as good as the source (mp3, wma, etc) can make it.

2. The stereo effect is wonderful. It’s like having a center speaker without having the clutter of a physical speaker on your desk, plus you still get a great sense of left/right effects.

3. The subwoofer will rock you. I have it front of a solid wood desk and it will shake the desk at half bass. When I play COD or MOH, it’s like you are on Omaha beach during an artillery barrage. It’s as real as I need it. I don’t need 5.1 to hear the shell whistling past me to get a great effect.

4. I really like the control. It sits well on the desk next to my keyboard. Nice big dials that index the bass and volume well. There is good size off switch that is easy to hit if you need to kill the sound quickly without searching for a mute button. There is also a plug for headphones. Makes it convenient if you don’t want to have to keep reaching around the back of the system. It also has a blue power light which I prefer.

5. Very, very, very easy to set up. Just plug the speakers into the subwoofer and then plug the system cable into the sound card. Turn it on.

6. Uses the system software for balance and treble. It will also use the software equalizer. You may ask why this is important. Half my problem with my last set of speakers is that the computer had an equalizer, the installed SoundBlaster software had an equalizer, the player had an equalizer and the speaker system had a equalizer, speaker balance. Give me a break. There were four sets of adjustments that you had to manage depending on what you were doing at the time (game, music, TV). I never knew which control was in control. My results were mixed at best. Now I just worry about the computers settings and I get great sound in any of my apps.

7. I have not detected the irritating hum my last system had during quiet times or when no music was playing.

8. I like the style of the speakers. Silver with black cloth covers. They seem very substantial.

What I don’t like:

1. I may be old fashioned, but I want the option to change the length of my speaker wires. I don’t know why Logitech has gone this route, but the speaker wire is permanently affixed to the back of the speaker and terminates with an RCA plug. I prefer heavy gauge speaker wire and would like the option to move the subwoofer farther away. This requires me to buy expensive RCA cable as opposed to regular speaker wire.

2. The subwoofer is probably physically bigger than it should be for a small room system. There is no room for it under the desk (that’s why it’s in front of it:). I’m still experimenting with placement. Make no mistake, this puppy is big. It also has metal heat vanes on the back that give it additional length. If you are working with limited space, make sure you pay attention to the dimensions.

3. While I like the control, it makes placing the subwoofer across the room somewhat problematic. The wire from the subwoofer to the controller is a 6′ long thick proprietary cable. The system sound plug then runs from the controller to the sound card. The speakers cords run directly to the subwoofer. This system is meant for close-in.

Conclusion:

This is a great trouble free set of speakers with great sound. Just plug and play without a lot of fuss. I knocked off a star because of the limited flexibility imposed by the cabling scheme. That being said, I don’t think you can beat the sound at this price. To be honest, I have a pretty decent ear and these are as good as any system I have listened to. I feel my money was well spent and I am most satisfied with my purchase. So if you are tired of trying to make the latest gimmick work (7.1 THX) and you just want great sound, this is your system.

If you want the skinny on these speakers read this.
First, I will have to say that I am a music engineer/producer, so when it comes to music, I know what I’m talking about. Secondly, I just bought this product and, no I don’t work for Logitech, or anyone else who`s related to the company, or their distributors.

Setting up:

For those who are curious a bit about the speaker set up, it is very easy. The subwoofer acts as the “motherboard”, so to speak. Everything hooks into it, from the back. The subwoofer is the power supply source (there’s no adapter, just a standard plug, so this will save room on a power strip), and the wired remote plugs into the sub, and the computer. The satellites plug into the sub as well. If you wish to plug the speakers up something else (a videogame console, a DVD player, VCR, etc.) a RCA splitter cord is provided to hook it up. When plugging this thing up, do NOT plug it up to the electrical socket first and then connect the components. Plug it into the wall last. Additionally, there is a on/off feature on the wired remote, as well as a switch on the back of the sub. The ON LED light on the wired remote is a pretty blue color.

When you set up the speakers, you should note that the satellites are very directional sensitive. That is, adjusting the angle of the speakers will have a great deal to do with the how the sound is directed towards your head, and thus the overall quality. Take the time to adjust this to the best sounding position. These speakers are decently compact. My computer is sitting on a tiny IKEA computer desk, along with other studio gear, including two rack-mounted processors. I have plenty of room for these speakers. Do NOT sit these speakers next to your head. It’s a good idea to have them farther away from you than your monitor is sitting, if possible. As for the subwoofer, do the smart thing and put it on the floor. It doesn’t need to be elevated no more than a foot off the ground, if that much. Also give the sub room to breathe, and for the love of common sense, don’t block the side air hole, and don’t direct the woofer at your computer tower.

The Sound:

Like I said before, I am a music producer, additionally I am a classically trained musician with 20 years experience (I’m 28). So I know what I’m talking about. Also I should note that I am using a fairly new desktop computer, an Emachines, which is about a year old. I also have a nice Sony 5.1 stereo system. These speakers kick my Sony’s tail, all around. The only way it could be better is if it was a perfect surround sound system, and that would be a pain to deal with, unless you have the room and money for it.

Some people have said the mids on these speakers are weak. I’m not hearing it at all. What I have noticed is that the upper highs are very strong. If you are having this problem here’s simple solution. I’m using Windows Media Player 9.0. On the “rock” EQ setting just move the 16kHz level down a wee bit. If you’re using another kind of media player, just turn down the EQ between 12-20kHz down by 5-10%. If you’re hearing hiss out of the speakers then you might have them too close to your head to begin with (I can only hear it when I lean over next to it, and if the volume is past 60%). Otherwise, you might have a shielding problem.

These speakers are quite loud. Be careful not to damage your hearing with these. I really see no point in turning the master volume past 40% and the sub past 25%.

Also keep in mind that these speakers are quality. Don’t play hip hop on a classical EQ setting. You should get used to switching your EQ setting (which is easy enough on Windows Media Player) for the appropriate thing you are listening to. If you’re listening to talk radio, set it to “speech”, and turn the woofer down to zero.

The only draw back on this speaker system is that you can’t turn the woofer down to perfect zero, meaning that you can’t bypass it. That would be a good bonus. But turning down the EQ in the 20Hz to 50 Hz range should do the trick if you want to by pass it.

For this price, these speakers are a steal. The quality of these things in my opinion are triple the price, if not more.

The z2300 as well deserving of 5 stars. If you want killer sound on your computer without spending a few thousand bucks, this is the way to go. I bought these for my home studio to mix the record I’m working on, and I’m so glad I did it. It far beats spending $400 on a single studio monitor.

If anyone wants so advice or semi-technical assistance as far as these speakers are concerned, I’d be more than glad to offer some advice if you wish, just email me at GSFU (at) aol (dot) com.

Superb speakers!
My judgement may be a little skewed as I haven’t upgraded my speakers for about 10 years. I originally bought these for my wife as she’s just getting into mp3 music and her old speakers just didn’t cut it. She didn’t like the Logitechs because the subwoofer was too big and there was not a convenient place to put it. So I gave her my 10 year old speakers and took the Logitechs. Boy did I come out ahead on that deal. I couldn’t believe how rich the sound was coming from these speakers, especially the subwoofer. Clear effects, vibrating base, and pure highs and mid-levels. The stand alone controller is a very nice touch, especially since you can plug your headphones into it, a major advance over having to plug them directly into the sound card. If you buy these speakers, you WILL NOT be sorry.

Amazon.com Product Description

Logitech Z-2300 2.1 Speaker System Hear your movies, music and games for the first time. Great sound. It’s all in the details. This powerful speaker system brings them out in high-clarity THX-certified sound. From the fat bass thumps in your favorite rock anthem to the creepy hallway steps in your favorite horror film, you’ll hear details you never knew were there. Add to that an impressive 200 watts of RMS power and you’ve got everything you need to rock your entertainment world.

Key Features

		Genuine THX-certified audio quality Once you hear these speakers, you’ll know why they’re among the few that have earned the THX seal of approval. THX certification is the ultimate mark of audio quality and your assurance of a studio-quality listening experience.
		200 watts of bold, powerful sound Hear and feel the music with more than enough power to rock the room. Go ahead and turn it up. The speakers are built to deliver clear, detailed, distortion-free sound—even at window-rattling volume.
		Phase-plug drivers for more accurate sound reproduction From the soaring high note in a guitar solo to the loud burst of jet engines in an action movie, Logitech Phase Plug drivers make sure you don’t miss a sound. A cone-shaped aluminum Phase Plug at the center of the driver helps to accurately reproduce high- and mid-range frequencies with less coloration than standard drivers. And because the Phase Plug acts as a heat sink, the driver is better able to preserve dynamic range. So you hear the quiet of a whisper and the loud, full force of an explosion. The Phase Plug even acts as a reflector, creating a much wider sweet spot of mid to high frequencies compared to conventional speaker designs. The bottom line? The true sonic signature of your movies, music and games comes through loud and clear.
		Long-throw subwoofer for rich, room-filling bass Intensify your movie, music and gaming experience with distortion-free bass that goes extra deep. The powerful 8-inch, 120 watt driver reproduces the wide range of low frequencies that deliver room-shaking rumbles and rich, tight bass notes. And with Logitech’s flared side port, the port noise that can occur with subwoofers is eliminated. It’s big, bold bass without the distractions.
		SoundTouch™ remote for easy control You have complete control over your listening experience with this sleek wired remote. Control master volume, subwoofer level and power. There’s even a headphone jack for private listening.
		Audio adapter for quick device connections The system comes complete with a handy adapter that lets you easily connect the speakers directly to your game console, DVD player or CD player.

Browse For More Logitech Products

Enhance your listening experience with great Logitech products.

Logitech Speaker System Z523 Speakers with 360-degree sound help project audio evenly in all directions, so you get a great listening experience throughout the room.		Ultimate Ears SuperFi 4 Noise-Isolating Earphones Featuring the same speaker technology and sound signatures used in our higher-end products, these compact earphones deliver detailed bass with crisp and clean mids and highs.		Ultimate Ears SuperFi 5 Noise-Isolating Earphones Housed in a sleek, liquid silver body, the top-fire speaker produces a detailed and full soundstage—ideal for listening to a broad range of music genres.

What’s In The Box Package Contents Speakers: 2 satellites, 1 subwoofer Cables included: Power cord, Color coded audio cables SoundTouch™ wired remote control Video game console adapter User’s manual 2 year limited warranty

Panasonic VW-VBG130 1HR Battery Pack for HDC-SD1, AGHSC1U Product: Panasonic VW-VBG130 1HR Battery Pack for HDC-SD1, AGHSC1U Review. List Price: $89.95 Amazon Price: $59.99 Click Here To See Amazon Sale Price Add to cart to see low price@ Availability: In Stock Usually ships in 24 Hours Free Shipping Available

Compare Prices on Panasonic VW-VBG130 1HR Battery Pack for HDC-SD1, AGHSC1U

Rechargeable Lithium-ion Battery Pack

• Color: black
• Brand: Panasonic
• Model: VW-VBG130-K
• Dimensions: .97″ h x 1.44″ w x 1.63″ l, 1.00 pounds

Features

• Genuine Digital Lithium Ion Batttery Pack from VBG Series
• For use with Panasonic AGHSC1U & HDC-SD1 camcorders
• 1320mAh
• Power Stretch
• No Memory Effect

A Good Choice for HDC-SD5
The battery runs my HDC-SD5 for a full 1.5 plus hours. Just as advertised.

It’s a BATTERY - NOT GOLD…
Amazingly overpriced for a battery that basically runs my HDC-HC1 for a little over an hour.

Can you say “stick ‘em up”???

_____________________

2-6-09

Follow up: This battery’s price has finally fallen by about 50 percent to it’s current $55 +/- price now listed here. When my original review was written the going rate was around $120 IF you could find them.

BEWARE of Panasonic. *Research well* before you buy. While their prosumer line is excellent, they have no qualms whatsoever about high prices and short supplies on basic accessories for units like these.

The right tool for the job
I was looking for two spare battery packs at a good deal price for my new Panasonic mini DVD camcorder model VDR-D50P. I have used after market products before with excellent results. I chose this battery and ordered two of them. They were listed as repalcements for my model.Panasonic CGR-DU06A/1B Rechargable Battery for most Panasonic Camcorders THEY DO NOT FIT. Panasonic has changed ever so slightly the size of the bracket the batttery mounts into on the cam and the charger. I was able to return the batteries to the company for a refund. After futher research on the Panasonic battery I needed, I returned to Amazon with a Panasonic part number (VW-VBG130). I did a search and it came back with more of the same thing I had bought before that did not fit. However, in the mix were several companies that listed the battery as this part number and as being an ORIGINAL, Panasonic part. This battery sells locally for AROUND $125.00 but I found it on Amazon for $55.00 plus shipping but NO TAX. I ordered two of them and they indeed are Panasonic batteries with the correct part number and they fit my camcorder. Here’s the AMAZON.COM link to the CORRECT battery For the Panasonic VDR-D50P camcorder; http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000SCUWOY/ref=dp_olp_2

BY THE WAY, the link shown at the right of this review is the link to the correct battery for the VDR-D50P Panasonic. To get to the $55.00 price look down a little and to the right of the ZOOM option for the photo of the battery. you will see the link to the dealers selling them for $55.00 or so. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you contact the company before buying to get a gut feeling for the company and their attitude before you order, there are usually several optional companies selling the item if you don’t get that desired “fuzzy” feeling at first.

Apparently the so called “after market” has not caught up with the fact that Panasonic has changed the mounting bracket size sligtly for the newer size batteries. This was indicated by the dealer when I returned my original purchase. I’m sure in time they will discover this change and produce the correct battery. For now, 9-30-08, apparently we have to use the ORIGINAL.

NOTE: The battery, VW-VBG130, also fits the New Panasonic SD memory card type camcorders also. I did some research on this. With the new SD card camcorders this battery will run the cam for about 60 to 70 minutes. On the mini DVD recorders like mine you will get about 50 minutes because the battery is having to move the laser head and mechanism as well as the motor that spins the DVD itself.

By the way, at this writing, 9-30-2008, there are some good deals to be had on the nice Panasonic SD card camcorders from last years models which are wonderful units and got very high user ratings. The newer units this year have no appreciable improvements over last year’s model. Try looking at circuitcity.com in the “OUTLET” section. If you do not see the “OUTLET” link on the main page, simply type OUTLET in the search bar and click GO and presto you will be there and you can do a search for Panasonic Camcorders. The nice THREE CHIP model HDC-HD5 is below $500.00 at this time (9-30-2008) when you put it in your shopping cart. Wish I had one

SwissGear SA1172 Dark Blue and Red Trim Messenger Description:

SwissGear SA1172 Dark Blue and Red Trim Messenger

• Color: Dark Blue/ Red Trim
• Brand: SwissGear
• Model: 11723116
• Dimensions: 15.00″ h x 15.00″ w x 12.00″ l,

Features

• Organizer Pocket
• Padded Shoulder Strap
• Water Bottle Pocket
• Document Pocket

Customer Reviews:

Western Digital WD Elements 1 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDBAAU0010HBK-NESN Description:

Designed with the same commitment to quality that made WD external drives the number one drives in the world, Western Digital’s WD Elements USB 2.0 external hard drives are the right answer for simply affordable add-on storage. Just plug it in to a USB port and start saving your photos, music, video, and files. Kit contains; USB 2.0 external hard drive, USB cable, AC adapter, Quick Install Guide.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11 in Consumer Electronics
• Size: 1 TB
• Color: Black
• Brand: Western Digital
• Model: WDBAAU0010HBK-NESN
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 1.42″ h x 4.90″ w x 7.01″ l, 2.24 pounds
• Hard Disk: 1TB

Features

• Simply affordable
• Easy to use
• USB 2.0 Hard drive

Customer Reviews:

Very good hard drive!
I work for Computing support at Arizona State University, and I have enough technical knowledge to be certified as a TECH JUNKIE :).

I am a photographer too, so I have tons of Photos (about 160GB), Videos, Software, Movies and Documentaries. I was looking for a simple external hard drive without any backup software included, I am smart enough to do manual incremental backups with file tree structure intact (I use GOODSYNC to backup, its very simple and easy to use and free).

I have looked at many many external HDDs and narrowed down to two models “Samsung Story 1TB - very good one too” and this one (I wanted it to be cheap too - got this for $85 on […]). I did not go with other WD models because of their annoying Backup Software.

Coming to the WD Elements 1TB: Its much smaller than I expected. It is dead silent, I had to touch it to convince myself that it was running, when I first turned it on. Its not too heavy either. The indicator light is placed at the rear, which is a very good thing (I find these LED’s annoying, especially at night).

After I did the first setup, I copied 383GB of data (931GB was total space). It took about 4hr 47min, speed varied between 20MBps to 37MBps. This is pretty good speed for USB 2.0. It was just a bit warm (my old segate hard drive would be very very hot for this amount of data transfer).

I would recommend it to beginners or pros alike. I am very happy with this purchase!

UPDATE:

After about three months of heavy usage, it never gave up on me. Its still dead silent and works flawlessly. It never got even warm!!

Follow these steps to get GOODSYNC for FREE:

In the beginning GOODSYNC was free, later they made a paid version as it gained popularity..

but there is a way to get PRO version for free…

1. go to good sync website
2. signup for a trial offer and you get PRO serial for free (I signed up for eMusic trial)
3. Once you get the serial, end the subscription before the trial expires…

Excellent, well designed product for the money!
I bought this on sale at Fry’s for $99, way below the amazon price. I wanted something simple as most hard drives these days come with their annoying built in software which cannot be deleted (like WD Essential Edition). This is a hassle free drive and is not bundled with any of the extra software which is exactly what I wanted. You simply plug it in and it works. It can easily be formatted to work with macs as well. I’ve been using WD hard drives for years and I own several models of the “essential” and “passport” editions. They are very reliable.

This elements hard drive has a sleek and sexy, minimalist design. It is well built overall and constructed of durable plastic. There is a slot for the USB cable, a slot for the power adapter and a tiny circular white light which blinks when it is in use (the light is not overwhelming as some hard drives can be). All three of these features are on one side/face of the hard drive (as shown in the picture), so if you have this plugged in and it is facing away from you, you won’t see the light at all. This doesn’t bother me but it may be a turn off for some people.

When in operation, it is very smooth and quiet compared to other WD hard drives I own. This may be due to the fact that it is closed entirely and there are no holes for ventilation as in other WD models. But this doesn’t bother me because I just use this as a backup and don’t need it on all of the time. This could (emphasis on “could”) be an issue if you are constantly using your hard drive because it may become hot. I haven’t experienced this at all, just speculating. If you are just backing up files and, say, watching a movie on your computer which is stored on the hard drive, I think you’ll be fine and there won’t be any heating issues.

More info here on WD’s website: […]

Very nice drive for a low price
I picked this up from Fry’s when it was on sale for 100 bucks.
I like the price.
I think the main differentiators between this and the higher price drive is that it has only 1 year warranty, and does not come bundled with any software to help you back up stuff.
But seriously who uses any of those anyways? Drive is preformated to NTFS, if you have a mac you’ll need to reformat to be able write to it.
what I like:
very small.-for a 3.5″ drive. very quiet and does not vibrate as much as my seagate 1.5TB drives.-This maybe due to the drive running at a lower RPM. I couldn’t find the SPEC to say what this drive spins at.
Drive spins up and down(powers down) when not in use. very nice. the white power LED isn’t overly bright.
dislike: enclosure snaps together, making it hard to swap out the drive in the future. only 1 year warranty. but I think that the 1 year is pre-built into the pricing.

Garmin Forerunner 405 Wireless GPS-Enabled Sports Watch with Heart Rate Monitor Description:

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1018 in Consumer Electronics
• Size: 000
• Color: Black
• Brand: Garmin
• Model: Forerunner 405 ANT S
• Dimensions: 2.78″ h x 1.88″ w x .60″ l, .13 pounds
• Native resolution: 124 x 95
• Display size: 1.06

Features

• Round 4-Level Gray Fstn, 124 X 95 Pixel Display
• Accurately Tracks Distance, Pace & Calories, & Displays On Easy-To-Read Screen
• Ant+Sport(Tm) Wireless Technology Automatically Transfers Workout Data To & From
• Computer When Device Is Within Range
• Heart Rate Monitor

Customer Reviews:

A Terrible Disappointment - Stick with the 305
As a long-time user and fan of the Garmin 305, the Garmin 405 was a product I was looking forward to for months as I was excited to see the next generation of the 305 I have enjoyed so much.

I could not be more disappointed with the result.

The Garmin 405 is a classic example of a good product concept and clever design gone horribly wrong as the Garmin team focused on form (looks) clearly beat out the folks worried about function. The watch looks fine (great for a HRM/GPS watch, so so for an everyday watch) but in terms of actual purpose-built functionality, it is terrible. There are multiple reasons for this which I will outline below.

(1) Useless when wet (yes, that includes sweat). The fact that you cannot toggle between screens or do anything with the bezel while the device is wet should have caused the designers to toss out this novel touch sensitive concept and stick with what works. Instead, they decided to go with a neat design concept that works great when the salesperson is showing it to you at the store, but will provide endless hours of frustration when you are out running and just want to see your heart rate. This is my first bullet point because it is the best example of the type of design failures that make this a terrible device.

(2) Use of built in functions/screens - The makers carried over the capabilites of the Garmin 305 and added a virtual training partner functionality, but the display can only show three fields at once and the fields themselves are too small for good viewing while in motion (ie running). Cycling between the displays is easy to do while sitting on a couch, even fun when you run your finger along the bezel, but when you are out running you quickly realize that it is very difficult to accomplish anything with the device. With the 305, if you wanted to change fields on the fly, you could manage to do it while keeping a reasonable pace. With the 405, you need to press buttons and run your finger along the bezel to switch fields - again, great on a couch, nearly impossible on a run.

(3) GPS Accuracy. I have traded messages with people who disagree, and I will say that I sometimes have great accuracy, but have also had multiple experiences where the accuracy of this device is off by so much as to make the pace and distance benefits of a GPS useless. The best example is running a measured mile with typical neighborhood street tree coverage and having the device show I went a total of 0.70 miles (the 305 on the same stretch showed 1.01). I have had this happen multiple times in various locations and therefore have stopped using the watch in races when I want to know my true pace and distance (I am using the 305 again).

(4) Silly things that might (or might not) drive you crazy - There are two buttons on the Garmin 405 - both on the right side of the face as you look at it. These buttons perform some useful functions, including locking the bezel so that you can wear the device in a non-GPS mode and avoid running down the battery needlessly while still using the device as a watch. The problem is that if, like me, you actually own a daily wear watch and when you travel you prefer to put the 405 in your bag or suitcase, having the two buttons on the same side means that if they press against anything they will unlock the bezel and the GPS will start running (or try to). The result will be a dead battery when you pull it out of your bag. It may seem minor, but pulling the 405 out of your bag after you arrive and want to go for a run, only to see it is dead, again and again, is annoying. The positive offset is that the watch actually charges at a pretty decent speed. Oh yes, and when the battery does, in fact, die, you will need to go through all of the intro screens again to get it going which will sometimes freeze on you (check message boards for solution to this as some people have posted them).

Overall, this is a terrible product and if you really want to get a GPS enabled running device, I would highly recommend you buy the Garmin 305. It is much cheaper and while it does not look as good, the size will not bother you after a couple of wears and it will work flawlessy for you. I suspect they will eventually correct the failings of the Garmin 405 but until they do it is not a good use of your money.

Great watch to replace your coach
I’ve been training with the Garmin 405 for a year now and love it. Given the mixed reviews here, I was apprehensive about getting it, but it really is a great training device.

Out of the box, it’s quite good. After configuring it and just getting used to the way it works, it’s much better. For example, mine is set to auto lap every kilometer and I mostly use a custom view with lap pace, heart rate and total distance. Interval Workouts are also very handy and easy to set up. The possibilities are endless.

The bezel takes some getting used to, but once you have configured the views, you simply leave it alone while running or tap with the middle of your finger (works better than the fingertip for whatever reason) to change views. You can lock the view by pushing both side buttons at the same time. This keeps it from switching views and beeping madly when wet or from bumping your shirt sleeve.

As I’ve progressed as a runner - first marathon in 2008, 3:52 at 41 years old - I’ve tried a variety of watches. First, a Timex Ironman, which I loved, but no Heart Monitor. Then a Timex Heart Monitor which I used with the Ironman (for the 100 lap memory). The Timex watches were stolen so next, a Nike Heart Monitor with the Nike+ Sports Band and Foot Pod, which looks cool but is not very accurate, even calibrated. Changes in speed, hills, etc. will affect the accuracy of any foot pod system. Once calibrated, it tended to be about 3-5% off.

Now, the Garmin 405. Likes:

1. Normal size - Unlike the 305, which I would not wear, the 405 is a regular watch. I wear it all the time.

2. Everything in one device - HR, pace, distance, elevation, laps.

3. Pace - I thought the whole GPS thing might be a bit too high-tech for a guy who loves the simplicity of running, but it is very, very nice to know your pace as you run. I use Hal Higdon’s training plans, which call for all kinds of runs, with warm-ups, intervals, tempo intervals, pace segments, etc. The pace feature makes doing these workouts possible without having a coach at your side.

4. GPS frees you from mapping out your route. You just run until it shows your distance is done. The Garmin Connect site then shows your map. This doesn’t sound so amazing, but it is very liberating. You just run wherever you want, explore your neighborhood, whatever. It transforms city running.

5. Auto laps. Great feature. Records all your details (time, HR, pace) for each lap automatically. You can review on the watch or on Garmin Connect.

6. The Garmin Connect website is very good and continually improving, with new features every couple of months.

7. The data seems pretty accurate, based on a track workout. In a recent 10K race, it recorded 10.2K, but some of that variation is certainly due to my weaving among the crowd. All GPS devices have a margin of error.

Dislikes:

1. Battery life - with GPS enabled, it needs a charge every couple of days to avoid the dreaded “low battery” warning in the middle of a workout.

2. The USB stick for wireless transfer. It works, but Nike does it better. The Nike+ pop-out USB stick is a much simpler way to transfer data to the computer and a much better way to keep from losing the USB part.

3. It can take a couple of minutes to find satellites and loses accuracy in bad weather. This is probably true of any GPS device.

4. You need the foot pod to record distance indoors. One more piece of gear (and not cheap). I didn’t buy it. It would be great to be able to manually add the distance to a workout on Garmin Connect.

All in all, the Garmin 405 is an incredible training device. It is the best choice in the market. Nothing comes close to it. 5 stars.

I hope you find this helpful.

Fantastic watch despite bad reviews
I had been looking to buy the Forerunner 405 for some time, but was reluctant because of all the bad reviews on here. I had the Nike+, which was terribly inaccurate and quit working after a couple of month. I went ahead and purchased the watch, ignoring the bad reviews.

First, I read reviews that said the bezel is hard to use. No, it’s not. You have to sit there and play with it to learn how to use it. When it goes into sleep mode, it’s not responsive, so you have to hit one of the side buttons a couple times to wake it up. Not a big deal. Personally, I sweat a lot, and have not had any problems with the bezel not responding when I run. It has never locked up on me either. You can adjust the sensitivity of the bezel. It’s preprogrammed on medium and I haven’t had any problems with this setting. People complain that the bezel is easy to hit accidentally, thus leaving it on and draining the battery, or whatever they complain about. You can lock the bezel so that this doesn’t happen. If you lock the bezel and this still happens, then don’t throw it in a gym bag or somewhere it can get knocked around. Personally, I wouldn’t be throwing my $300 GPS-enabled sports watch around anyways.

For the people who say that it’s not accurate, I have had no issues with it’s accuracy. Actually, I think it’s very accurate. I was worried about it picking up satellites because when I had satellite radio in my car, it would frequently lose signal on a road that I run on. The Garmin has never lost signal during my run, and I live in WV and my route is right near mountains and trees. For those who complain about the way it displays information during your run, you can program it to show you what you want, and you can turn off autoscroll so that it stays on the one display. If you want to see the next page, just tap the bezel. It’s really easy. I found that having 3 items on the page was too crammed and small to read, so I changed it to only show 2 items. I have it set to show my pace and distance.

For those people who complained about how long it takes to pick up a satellite signal, yes it may take a couple of minutes. Do some light stretching while it acquires the signal. For those complaining about the battery life, I ran 14 miles with it over the course of a week and it got down to 38%, so I threw it back on the charge just in case. It’s simple to check the battery life, so check it now and then, and if it gets low, charge it. Just like you charge your cell phone every night or every other night. Just be sure to turn the GPS off after every use to save the battery.

Somebody complained that it doesn’t read a steady speed/pace the whole time. No, it’s not going to read that you are running a 10:30 pace exactly the whole 5 miles you run. Naturally, you are going to speed up or slow down and not realize it, and lets face it, it’s a tiny electronic GPS device and may not be 100% in tune with every step. Mine will generally bounce around 15-20 seconds above or below my goal pace. What matters to me is that I know within 15-20 seconds what my pace is exactly when I’m running, and at the end it gives me very accurate pace averages for each mile. I have had no issues with transferring my data to the computer. The ANT stick quickly links to the watch, and it may take a minute or so to download. The software does what you need it to do. If you need something fancier, there’s more software out there. Lastly, this watch is large. For the men that may not be a problem. I am female and I found this watch to be rather large, and I am not a tiny person. This isn’t a watch that a female can just wear fashionably. If you think this is a small sports watch, it’s not. But, the strap has plenty of notches to adjust to just about any size wrist.

I’m sorry to complain about other people’s experiences with the watch, but I just don’t understand how they are having these issues and I am not. The issues that some complain about seem to be easily resolved by simply becoming more familiar with the watch or thinking ahead a little. This isn’t a watch you can just throw on and run with right out of the box and it be perfect. It is highly customizable, and everybody is different. Once you customize it how you like it, it is a very accurate, useful tool to aid in your training. I am saddened that the negative reviews almost prevented me from purchasing this item, when it has been the best purchase I have made in a long time. I love this watch and highly recommend it. If you are not good with electronics, then maybe this watch isn’t for you.

Amazon.com Product Description
With the Forerunner 405, Garmin has finally put thepower of GPS location-based date into a sleek sport watch that can be worn all day. Runners no longer have to choose between function and fashion. Garmin’s ANT + Sport wireless platform that wirelessly sends your data to your computer and a touch bezel that lets you change screens with a simple tap (no more fumbling for buttons) run make this not just a leap forward in GPS-enabled fitness devices, but in training devices period. Forerunner 405 comes in two color options — black or green.

The Power Of Location-Based Data
Anyone who has used Garmin’s Forerunner 205 or 305 already understands the power that attaching location data to traditional measurements like distance, speed, time, calories burned, and heart rate can provide. Knowing exactly where you worked hardest, ran fastest (or most slowly), and lets you tailor your workouts to improve for specific distances, conditions, and types of terrain. It gives a complete picture of how you interact with every portion of your run.

Forerunner 405 comes in two color options — black or green

Train with a virtual partner

Watch Results
Loaded with serious training features, Forerunner 405 continuously monitors your time, distance, pace, calories and heart rate (when paired with heart rate monitor). Each run is stored in memory so you can review and analyze the data to see how you’ve improved.

The high-sensitivity GPS receiver sustains satellite reception, whether you’re tackling a trail or jogging through the urban canyons of skyscrapers. The Forerunner 405 is water-resistant (IPX7) and can be used outdoors or indoors (with an optional foot pod), making it the ultimate year-round, all-weather training tool.

Forerunner 405 is available with or without a heart rate monitor (see the versions tab) to help you make the most out of your training. Versions with a digital heart rate monitor continuously track heart beats per minute. Train in a certain heart rate zone to improve your fitness level or compare your pace and heart rate to past performance on the same run.

The revolutionary patent-pending touch bezel on the face of the watch makes navigating the options easier than ever. Simply by tapping, holding or running a finger along the bezel, runners can begin a new workout, access their training history or challenge a Virtual Partner. The Forerunner 405 makes training with a Virtual Partner easy and efficient. Runners can adjust the Virtual Partner’s pace without stopping in the middle of a workout, and the Virtual Partner is always on and ready for a challenge.

Run, Sync, Store and Share
One of Garmin’s most ambitious decisions has been to approach fitness devices as a total platform with their “ANT + Sport” connectivity system. All of Garmin’s new fitness devices, including the Forerunner 405, Edge 605 and 705 bike computers, and Forerunner 50 heart rate monitor watches, will interface wirelessly with any devices that are compatible wiht the “ANT + Sport” protocol, including devices from other manufacturers.

Once you’ve logged the miles, the ANT+Sport wireless technology automatically transfers data to your computer when the Forerunner is in range. No cables, no hookups. The data’s just there, ready for you to analyze, categorize and share through Garmin’s online community, Garmin Connect or optional Garmin Training Center software. You can wirelessly send workouts from your computer to Forerunner, too.